Lodge Guest, Sonia Ziegler

Yeah so,  this interview with Sonia, we mixed the photo lodge and our “standard” lodge guest questions all together.  This is what came out, please enjoy. 

Photo: Palle Shultz

 

Name: Sonia Ziegler

Age: 19

Where are you from?  I was born and raised in Vesterbro, Copenhagen

Where do you currently live?  

I currently “live” on different peoples couches in South America

What nationality do you feel the most?  International 😉

Current job / school:  Neither of those. I am currently traveling around South America

Sponsors:  I would not call myself sponsored, but I receive some small camera equipment, help and support from Fujifilm Nordic and official Fujifilm X Photographer Palle Schultz

What kind of photo equipment do you use? 

I mainly use a Fuji X-Pro1 camera, two fixed lenses (35 and 18mm) + a 50-230mm zoom lens

Do you only shoot skateboarding? Or other stuff too?

I have done a lot of skateboarding photography, but I shoot all kinds of things between heaven and earth. I really love documentary photography

How long have you been shooting photos? 

When I was a little girl, I was playing around with my dad’s disposable cameras, shooting flowers in our garden etc, and around 2010 I would frequently go out to shoot with an old Canon 300D we had. This Canon camera would later get stolen in a skatepark in London, and when that happened, I stopped shooting for some time. But when I started at Bryggeriets Gymnasium in 2013, my interest for photography truly started to grow again, and I started to learn a lot more, experiment, take it more serious and eventually start using it for professional work here and there

 

Sonia Ziegler

What is your best photo mission/experience? 

I have been having a lot of great photography experiences, but one time when I went to India and saw a Dalai Lama teaching, I sneaked into the press area, because I was able to get closer to his Holiness from there, and shoot some better photos of him. Afterwards, I met the photographer, Rio Helmi, who is one of the few closest people to Dalai Lama and has been shooting photos of him since the early 80s, and when he saw my photos, he choose to publish them on their official munk website, which was so amazing for me! It’s a long story, and would take too much space to write here, but it was probably my best photo experience – so far..

Here is the link: https://www.jangchuplamrim.org/2015/12/31/scenes-from-the-16-drops-of-kadam-initiation/

What have you achieved in photography?

Well, I have achieved plenty of personal improvements, but this summer I achieved two 3rd places in photography awards and competitions; Malmö Fotomaraton 2016 and Gaffa Photo Awards 2016

Who do you prefer to shoot photos with? 

I enjoy to go shoot with skaters. They really want and need to get their photos taken, so it’s a good situation for both the skater and photographer.. -if the skater land the trick and the photographer captures the perfect moment, of course! 😉

 

Here is 4 mins about Sonia

 

How much do you spend on equipment?

I try not to spend a lot on that. I was offered a very good deal with my X-Pro1, and otherwise I just try to find second hand camera equipment on places like dba.dk etc.

Any photo advises?  Duuuude, go shooooooot!

fotoamandaoline2

Photo: Amanda Oline

Please tell us about how your daily routine looks like: 

Often my days would look something like this;

08.00 waking up, appreciating life

09.00 exercise (running/yoga/stretching)

10.00 exercise (running/yoga/stretching)

11.00 shower and green smoothie

12.00 enjoying the day

13.00 enjoying the day

14.00 enjoying the day

15.00 enjoying the day

16.00 enjoying the day

17.00 enjoying the day

18.00 enjoying the day

19.00 enjoying the day

20.00 enjoying the day

21.00 getting home, eating dinner, editing photos

22.00 jazz, reading books, drinking tea

23.00 sometimes sleeping problems / sometimes passing out

24.00 zzzzz

How are you doing at the moment? 

I am feeling excellent! It had been my dream to travel around South America for many years, and now my dream has come true. I am hanging out with friends, meeting new people, doing exciting things, shooting (too) many photos etc. etc. etc.

How is your body at the moment? (injuries, back problems etc.) 

It’s better than ever

Years of skateboarding:  on and off 6 years

 

fotoamandaoline

Photo: Amanda Oline

When did you start to skate and why? 

I started to skate around 2010/11, because I would be hanging out at Enghave skatepark almost everyday, since I lived and studied 5 minutes from there. Some of my guy friends would be skating, so sometimes I tried their boards, because it looked so fun, and then I guess I got hooked.

The guys were helping me out in every way. Holding my hands when I learned to drop in, giving me their old skateboards, wheels, trucks etc.

Do you think you made the right choice? (instead of playing football f.ex.)

Absolutely, because skateboarding comes with so much more than just skateboarding. It has brought me to amazing places and I’ve had some hilarious, marvellous and intersting experiences because of it.

Anything that influences and inspire you at the moment? 

My many and very talented friends are always inspiring me.

Patterns, stribes, shapes, compositions, symmetry, mirrors etc. are all influencing my photography a lot. Especially my skateboard photography. I love to combine all this, in different ways, and create these simple and artistic black and white skate pictures

What are your thoughts about skateboarding being a part of the Olympics 2020?

I don’t really know.. There are pros and cons in everything – also about skateboarding being an official sport in the next Olympics

Where do you stand in terms of politics?

Well, I’m a hippie… power to the people!

When I chill, I chill with:

Friends, books, mint tea, meditation or soft music

Lately I have been on a mission in/with:

The Hocks skaters in Brasil

Dream session would be: 

With anyone who is happy and provides good actions for me to capture hehe

Lately I have been working on:

My social media retardness.

I’m horrible at keeping up regular posting, but at the moment I’m trying to upload my photography work to my fairly new Instagram account; @sonia_worldwide

When I was little I liked to:

Talk to strangers

When I’m home I like to:

Be creative, do collages, paint, draw, edit photos, drink more tea, cook healthy plant based food and listen to music

I normally call my homies to: Meet up and talk about life

Your homies are: Amazing, beloved, missed, – the best!

I enjoy going to: New countries

When I travel, I always bring: Nowadays; my camera!

Best travel advice I can give is:

Don’t worry too much. You will figure things out if you just have an open mind and an ability to be a little spontaneous

Best life advice I can give is:

We only have this one life, so we should remember to be grateful for it and get the most out of it

Are you good with money (do you plan, safe it, cash in or blow it)? 

I don’t really spend too much money to be honest. I am the type of person who saves up money, but without even thinking about it. I don’t have to many personal expenses in life. I don’t smoke cigarets, I don’t really go out and drink too much, I never really buy new clothes/shoes etc.. and if I do, it would always be from flea markets or second hand stores! so in that way, I save a lot..

Best travel memory you want to share?  

Oh wow, there are so many, but a few highlights was for instance that one time I;

rode wild horses in Mongolia,

touched the Western Wall in Jerusalem,

went skiing in the dessert in Dubai,

went paragliding over the Himalayan mountains in India,

drove through Napa Valley in a limousine drinking wine in San Fransisco,

walked the Great Wall of China

traveled by the Trans Siberian Railway for 3 weeks

When I do not skateboard I: Do everything else

My fitness program is:

When I had a membership in Fitness DK, I always went to Bodypump and yoga classes, because strength and flexibility is ideal for me.

Nowadays when I’m often on the road, I mostly go running

Do you care about your health?

Oh yeah, big time! My body truly is my temple haha!

I would like to study global health and nutrition some day

fotoalexbrandao

Photo: Alex Brandao

Anything that concerns you at the moment? 

Since I’m planning on traveling for about a year, I’m slightly concerned if I’m gonna have time to see all the countries here in South America. I always think that I’m only gonna stay where I am for a ‘short’ amount of time, and then move on, but I always end up staying way longer than expected, because I’m having too good of a time!

When I get old I want to:

Find an amazing and peaceful place somewhere in this world, to settle down and enjoy my time. I hope I would still be able to do the same things that I’m doing now

I would NEVER: I don’t know.. smoke crack

I would like to see more of:

My beloved friends from all around the world, whom I, in many cases, only get to see rarely

That one time where I was in jail because:

I went on a guided tour in the Auswitch museum hehe

I should do more of:

organising photos on my external hard drive

I dream of some day I would:

Visit all the countries in the world

If I could change the world I would:

Safe the earth, and make people become more environment conscious!

Everybody should own a:

Blender! That’s certainly the kitchen equipment I love the most. My green morning smoothies sure wouldn’t be the same without that incredible invention!

The hobby I have, no one knows about is: Writing poems

I will never get rid of:  my blender !!

 

fotopalleschultz

Photo: Palle Shultz

I would love to be in a movie with:

Tom Cruise – when he was young and looked like he did in Days of Thunder from 1990

Any regrets in life so far? 

I ‘regret’ that I wasn’t more aware of my grandfathers interest in photography. A while after he passed away, I realised that my family had been throwing out all this dark room equipment that he apparently had in his basement. When I lived in Malmö I had free access to a darkroom, so I would be there a lot experimenting with analog photo developing. So realising that I potentially could have inherited a complete darkroom set up, if only I had payed more attention to the opportunities around me, was such a bummer

Anything else?

Nothing but respect and full support to Thomas Kring and the Shredderslodge!

Photos credits in this post is coming soon. 

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3 Responses

  1. lennox raphael says:

    fabulous, poetic spirit

  2. Super interview Sonia. And great that your camera was fixed to run again. Keep up the click finger 😉

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